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…following objection to Min. McCoy’s presence in the House following Wednesday’s alleged physical assault on MP Sarabo-Halley
By Svetlana Marshall
A move to protest the presence of Minister Kwame McCoy in the National Assembly following his alleged physical assault on Opposition Member of Parliament, Tabitha Sarabo-Halley, has resulted in at least five A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Members of Parliament being suspended by the Speaker, Manzoor Nadir.
Opposition Chief Whip, Christopher Jones and APNU+AFC Members of Parliament Sherod Duncan, Sherwayne Holder, Amanza Walton-Desir and Natasha Singh-Lewis were among MPs suspended on Thursday for allegedly disturbing the sitting of the Assembly.
At the start of Thursday’s sitting, the Opposition Chief Whip lobbied the Speaker to remove Minister McCoy from the precinct of the National Assembly given the seriousness of the allegation levied against him. Through their Chief Whip, the female APNU+AFC Members of Parliament, in particular, expressed deep concern for their safety.
It is alleged that Minister McCoy on Wednesday, hit MP Sarabo-Halley with a phone to the left side of her temple while she was making her way to the washroom during the Consideration of the Budget Estimates at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre. The Government Minister has denied the allegation, but the female APNU+AFC MPs believe that given his track record, their safety is at risk.
Notwithstanding their concerns, the Speaker, following a brief suspension of the sitting, opted to proceed with the business of the House. In objection, the Opposition MPs, with the exception of the lone Liberty and Justice Party (LJP) MP Lenox Shuman, banged their tables.
At a virtual press conference, shortly after they were suspended, MP Walton-Desir and MP Singh-Lewis with strong backing from Opposition front bencher Catherine Hughes, condemned both the actions of the Government and the Speaker of the House.
MP Walton-Desir, an Attorney-at-Law, said even as the world prepares to celebrate the contributions of women in society, Guyana is witnessing attacks on women at the level of the highest decision making institution in the country.
“We want to state for the record, that this act of violence is abhorrent, despicable and disgusting and we the female Members of Parliament we will not tolerate it; we will not stand for the physical abuse of anyone of our MPs more so our female Members of Parliament,” MP Walton-Desir told the press.
It was noted that since the commencement of the 12th Parliament of the National Assembly, Opposition MPs, in particular the female Parliamentarians, have had to endure derogatory, vulgar and disrespectful remarks from the governing side of the House, particularly from Ministers Kwame McCoy and Nigel Dharamlall. Female Opposition MPs have been reportedly called “prostitutes” and “dangles.” MP Sarabo-Halley has been the subject of bullyism, constantly taunted about her natural hair and education.
For MP Walton-Desir, Wednesday’s physical attack on the Opposition MP signaled a new and shocking low in the history of the Parliament of Guyana.
She said instead of heeding to the request of the Opposition Chief Whip to have Minister McCoy suspended, the Speaker, it would appear, brushed aside the concerns of the APNU+AFC MPs and proceeded with the business of the House. The actions of Nadir, MP Walton-Desir said, represent a clear dereliction of his duty as Speaker to protect and preserve the safety of his Members of Parliament in the precinct of the National Assembly.
Such actions, the APNU+AFC MP made clear, will not be tolerated by the Opposition.
“I want to make it clear that we have a situation where a Speaker couldn’t exercise his power to remove a known miscreant,” MP Walton-Desir said while adding that “Kwame McCoy has a history of abuse of women, he has a history of targeting and grooming young men; he has a history.”
The Opposition MP said “instead of protecting the women of the National Assembly, the Speaker today chose to further victimize and humiliate the women of the Opposition by refusing to take the necessary steps to protect our personal safety and we will not have it.”
The Speaker had advised the APNU+AFC coalition to table a motion for the removal of Minister McCoy but MP Walton-Desir questioned, why should there be a motion, when the Speaker has the powers to act.
“The Speaker has the power to protect any Member of the National Assembly more so female Members,” MP Walton-Desir said while noting that the recommendation of the Speaker is simply not acceptable.
“You have a person that is sitting in the National Assembly that violated the personal space of a female MP to the extent that he occasioned physical abuse to her and we must be content to take days and weeks to pass a motion. I think not. It is not acceptable. The Speaker was just engaging in pleasing his political masters and we will not accept it. In the same manner that the Speaker has upbraided Members of the National Assembly for criticisms of him outside of the National Assembly, call them backyard bully, etc, he has not offered one single upbraid to Kwame McCoy, and we will not accept it,” MP Walton-Desir said in response to a question posed.
MP Singh-Lewis, in her remarks, said the actions of the Speaker, though disappointing, come as no surprise to the Opposition.
She said while the female APNU+AFC MPs were prepared to participate in the consideration of the Budget Estimates, they were not prepared to do so in the presence of an “abuser.” For her, the Speaker has not only failed the Members of Parliament but the women and people of Guyana by failing to reprimand an alleged abuser.
“Today is a sad day when the Speaker of the National Assembly did not look out, did not protect, they not offer any chance of hope for the women of Guyana, because when we sit in the National Assembly, we don’t represent ourselves, we represent the people of Guyana,” MP Singh-Lewis said.
Like MP Walton-Desir, MP Singh-Lewis said the Opposition will continue to stand up against all forms of abuse.
“He entertains the criminal in the National Assembly, he has given a criminal prominence in the National Assembly instead of listening to the voices of women. We will not tolerate that. We will not tolerate that. We will stand against any form of abuse against women and children in this country.”
MP Hughes in expressing disappointment said the physical attack on MP Sarabo-Halley came approximately 10 days after her laptop mysteriously went missing, and mysteriously reappeared during a sitting of the National Assembly.
She said though security concerns were expressed approximately 10 days ago about the lack of surveillance cameras within the precinct of the National Assembly, those concerns are still to be addressed.
Due to the lack of video evidence, MP Hughes expressed the view that the Speaker has not taken seriously the incident involving MP Sarabo-Halley.
“It was not taken seriously by the Speaker and the Government side simply because they could say that it was a ‘he she, she she situation’ because there are no cameras in the precinct of where the assault took place, this I find very unacceptable,” she explained.
The APNU+AFC MPs have vowed to make their voices heard by informing regional and international organisations including parliamentary organisations on the attacks of the women in the National Assembly of Guyana.
